


And We Believe He Flew

by fractionallyfoxtrot



Series: Cabin Crew Riot [1]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Free Verse, Gen, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-14
Updated: 2012-10-14
Packaged: 2017-11-16 07:09:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/536834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fractionallyfoxtrot/pseuds/fractionallyfoxtrot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unable to carry on, GERTI crashes into the ocean leaving Martin, Douglas, Carolyn, and Arthur stranded in a life raft.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And We Believe He Flew

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Prompt Three of the October 2012 Cabin Crew Riot: [Conflict](http://cabincrewriot.tumblr.com/post/32768780642/conflict-for-this-prompt-your-job-is-to-show-the) (sub-prompt: Man vs. Nature).

We wish to tell you the tale  
Of a Captain, short in stature and a little pale  
A commander of the sky, not sea  
Although that is where most believe he be

On a night of darkness, void of stars  
The Captain lost his plane, also a friend of ours  
She couldn’t complete the journey, not even for him  
He said his goodbyes as they fell for he knew she couldn’t swim

GERTI left her Captain and his crew  
Wet and cold in a sea that was black not blue  
The gallant Steward produced their craft  
And they all climbed, one at a time, aboard the raft

The Captain took charge from the start  
Plotting a course to land based on his knowledge of the chart  
The First Officer groused, the CEO snarked  
Only the Steward believed brilliance had been sparked

He returned to the water, eager to set forth  
Guided only by memory and GERTI’s last gift: North  
He pushed them through the water, aided by the tide  
Assistance from the Steward brushed cautiously aside

Night passed but the darkness remained  
Heavy cloud cover kept the light contained  
Rain, as constant as the ocean wave  
Made it difficult for the crew to be brave

The Captain pressed on, driven not by strength but will  
A will to live, to survive, to see land over the next watery hill  
He denied their help, being berated when he cited age  
Unwilling to relinquish his only directional gauge

Rain grew into storm as night returned with force  
The raft was tossed and rocked, throwing them wildly off course  
The crew lost their sight in sheets of rain  
They grasped for hands, thunder roaring over their shouts in vain

The sea threatened them with its power until they accepted all was lost  
They all were willing but, in the end, only one of them paid the cost  
The crew awoke, reborn on land as those who fought the sea  
Yet died once more, in heart and soul, when they found their Captain not to be

After being found, they searched the depths of the sea that took man and plane  
GERTI was spied but not the Captain, elusive he did remain  
Captains, the crew was told, were meant with their ships to be  
Their Captain flew a plane, they’d say, he belonged in the sky, not sea

Most who hear our tale believe the sea is his place of rest  
We think not for the Captain’s dream was impossible to suppress  
To fly, to soar, to be an aeroplane was all that his heart knew  
And, since he was never found, we believe he flew


End file.
